Checking accounts with no monthly service fees have replaced free toasters and other promotional gifts that Spokane-area financial institutions used in marketing campaigns to attract customers years ago. Today, free checking accounts are so to

So much for simplifying the tax code. Tax laws passed this year add even more complexity to the code than taxpayers had to deal with previously. Theres another 600 pages added to the tax code, but there are some very good provisions, on

A parents group has formed a nonprofit entity called the Mead Education Foundation to help the Mead School District pay for things that arent covered by the districts budget.The foundation claims to be one of the first organizations of its

New federal rules governing who is exempt from overtime pay requirements whipped up waves of sharp political debate in Washington, D.C., but apparently have caused barely a ripple among employers here since taking effect in late for several Spokane

Manito Super 1 Foods Inc., a Spokane-based company owned by Ron McIntire, of Hayden, Idaho, plans to open a Super 1 Foods supermarket in Whitefish, Mont., says project spokesman Mike Winger.Winger is vice president of store development for URM

The preliminary findings of a South Side transportation study offer a dozen conceptual improvements to address growing traffic demands on Spokanes South Hill and the west side of Spokane Valley.The 18-month study, which was conducted by the a

One of the two biggest providers of billboard advertising in Eastern Washington and North Idaho has agreed to buy the other in a transaction that involves operations across several states.In the sale, Lamar Advertising Co., of Baton Rouge, La.,

Spokane real estate broker and developer Robert H. Cooke is developing a $1 million condominium building overlooking the Spokane River in the historic Brownes Addition neighborhood, just west of the citys core.Cooke says work on the at 1902

Pawn 1 Inc., a Spokane-based chain of pawn stores, plans to open a large outletits ninth overalllater this month in Lewiston, Idaho, says Mark Lax, the companys president and owner.The company expects to open more stores within the next a

Oz Fitness Inc., of Sun Valley, Idaho, says it plans to replace its 24-Hour Fitness gym in the Spokane Valley and to renovate some of the other health clubs in the Inland Northwest that it bought last summer from the big, San Ramon, Calif.-based of